Game apparatus



L. BLUMENFELD.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-I5, 1916.

1,335,088. Patented Mar.30,1920.

SHEET 1.

2 SHEETS- L E0 ,BLUMENFELJJ INVENTOR A TTORNE Y L. BLUMENFELD.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.15,1916.

Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

LEO .BLL/MENFELfl A TTOR/VE Y LEO BLUMENFELD, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

GAME APPARATUS.

- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar, 30, 1920,

Application filed August 15, 1916. Serial No. 115,099.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEO BLUMENFELD,

/ a citizen of the United States, in the city of State of New York, have invented a new and useful Game Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates. to games of that character in which a board is used together with pieces or men to be placed in position on the board by the players.

There have been placed on the market games of the checker-board type, designed especially for the entertainment of children. Most of these, however, fail to supply the needs of fairly grown up boys and girls. For them the ordinary game of checkers or chess is far too difficult and involves too great a mental strain, while the other simpler games, such as those played with toys and blocks, are far too childish to hold the interest of grown up children. Games of the ordinary checker-board type have furthermore hitherto given much trouble and annoyance on account ofthe liability of the men to be thrown off the board or displaced from their positions by the slightest push or jar.

One object New York, Bronx county,

of this invention, therefore, is to provide a game apparatus adapted to a game which shall be very simple in its nature, and yet highly interesting and entertaining to young boys and girls.

Another object of this invention is to provide a game apparatus for a game of the character described, which can be subjected to sudden jars or shaking without the men being liable to be displaced.

A further object is to provide a game apparatus which shall be neat, ornamental, and compact in form, and yet withal inexpensive to manufacture and marketable at a very low cost.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the detailed description given below, and the features of novelty will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention consists of a box, preferably made of pasteboard, provided on its top face with spaces to be occupied by the pieces, each space having a socket into which the players insert their men .in turn.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of with the cover off and some of the pieces the game apparatus in place. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the cover of the paste-board. game box. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the game apparatus with the cover off and'the men not in place. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional elevation perpendicular to the plane of Fig. 3 taken along the line m-m. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified. embodiment of the invention. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the modified form shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional elevation perpendicular to Fig. 6 taken along the line yy, showing some of the pieces in place.

Referring in detail to the game box preferably made of pasteboard, fiber or other similar material; B is the top face of the box, and C is a cover therefor, preferably made of the same material as the box. The top face B constitutes the game board, and is preferably square. It is divided up into the square spacesD,D,D designed to receive the men or pieces. Each of these spaces is provided with a socket 0r hole E, E, preferably circular, centrally disposed within it. sockets are made of a sufficient depth and of diameter such as to receive the men F, F, F, and F, F,-F, so that the'interior surfaces of these sockets frictionally engage the lower portions of the pieces as clearly shown in Fig. 7, and thus positively hold the pieces rigidly in an upright position. The pieces are made preferably from dowel stick, and they form two distinct groups F, F, F--, and F, F, F-, one distinguished from the other in some suitable manner, preferably by making the pieces in one roup" of a different color from those in the other there beingfive pieces of one color and four similar pieces of the other color.

The game box proper consists preferably of an outer casing G made preferably of paste-board, and a corresponding similar but inverted portion H, glued in or otherwise suitably jointed or fitted rigidly into the outer casing G The top face of this inner portion forms the game board B, and as will be clear from Fig. 4., the height of this inverted portion H is less than that of the casing G so that when all the pieces are Iion place the cover may snugly fit over the The modified form shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 is for a game apparatus of the type described, but having no cover and made preferably of Wood. The game board may the drawings, A is These be fashioned from woodof moderate thickness, beveled at the top as at I, giving sides J and beveled edges K. This construction gives a very'neat compact game board, but one which is of course somewhat more expensive than the pasteboard form already described.

The game is played preferably by two players, the player who is to go first taking the group of five men, and the other taking the group of four men. The first player begins the game by inserting one of his pieces into any one of the spaces he chooses.

The other player then inserts one of his pieces into any one of the remaining unoccupied spaces, and so the game continues until one of the players has succeeded in getting three of his men in three consecutive sockets. A certain number of points may be assigned as to be scored in favor of the player who has thus succeeded in getting three of his men in a row, and to win a player must have scored a certain number of points previously determined. Thus ten points may be assigned as scored each time a player gets three of his men in a row, and a hundred points may bemade requisite to win.

It will of course be clear that unless one of the players makes a false move, it may happen that after each player has played all of his pieces, neither of the players will have placed three of his pieces in three consecutive sockets, and neither of the players will havescored. This supplies an element of interest to the game, each player having to be always on the alert for a false move on the part of his opponent. For as will readily be understood, after the game has progressed alittle, there is a possibility of one player making a move such as to give his opponent an opportunity to so place his next man as to make two openingsfor himself, whereby in his next move he may fill either one of two rows, and win, as shown in Fig. 5.

It will now be clear that this invention provides a game apparatus for a game that may be played with great interest and enjoyment by fairly grown up children, there being involved no very great mental strain, and there being furthermore removed the recurring annoyances and loss of time oc- ('asioned by the displacement of the men from the ordinary checker-board by the slightest disturbance of the board.

-When the game is not in use the pieces are all inserted in the sockets in the game board, the box is covered, and the whole forms a neat compact game apparatus that may be conveniently carried from place to place, and safely kept or put away.

Many modifications may of course be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Thus a plurality of groups of men, each differentiated from the other, and a correspondingly increased number of sockets may be provided, so as to enable more than two players to take part. Furthermore the size of the squares, the coloring and general ornamentation, and size and shape of the game box and pieces may all be varied in accordance with the idea of the manufacturer especially as to whether he wishes to provide a moderately expensive or very cheap game. Thus the pieces may be provided with a tapering end, and an enlarged top portion to permit of better handling, and so on.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Lettcrs Patent is:

1. A game apparatus comprising a game board having a checkered surface square in outline, said surface being divided into nine squares, each of said squares containing a socket, two groups of pieces or men, said groups being suitably differentiated one from the other, there being five pieces in one group, and four in the other, said pieces being adapted to fit snugly into the sockets, and be frictionally held firmly therein, in upright position.

2. As an article of manufacture, a game apparatus for playing the game of three in-a-row comprising a box, a cover therefor, said box having a top surface square in outline divided into nine squares having openings therein, and two groups of pieces, the pieces in one group being of different color from those in the other, said pieces adapted to 'be inserted into the said openings to be there firmly held in upright position, and said cover being of such depth as to fit snugly over the box when the pieces are in position in the openings, the tops of the pieces touching the inner face of the cover.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LEO BLUMENFELD.

Witnesses:

ALFRED L. HEOHT, MARTHA K. BLUMENFELD. 

